Previous meetings• Genk and Thun are meeting for the first time in what is also Thun's first encounter with Belgian opponents.

• Genk's six previous games against Swiss clubs stand at W3 D2 L1 (W2 D1 L0 at home – W1 D1 L1 in Switzerland). Four of those matches came last season; Genk beat FC Luzern in the play-offs then drew twice against FC Basel 1893 in the group stage. They are yet to concede a goal at home against Swiss opponents.

• Belgian sides have traditionally come off slightly the worse in their 43 past meetings with Swiss opponents, with the Belgian clubs' record reading W14 D11 L17 (W8 D8 L7 at home – W6 D4 L10 in Switzerland).

Match background• Last season Genk made it through to the round of 32 unbeaten on what was their UEFA Europa League group stage debut, topping their section with three wins and three draws.

• Genk won 1-0 at FC Dynamo Kyiv on matchday one to get their Group G campaign off to a positive start; they have won all three of their European games this season and have yet to lose a group stage home fixture (W2 D1).

• Thun are competing in the UEFA Europa League group stage for the first time, having lost to Stoke City FC in the play-offs two years ago. They memorably made it to the 2005/06 UEFA Champions League group stage, finishing third in their section to earn a transfer to the UEFA Cup round of 32, where they lost to Hamburger SV.

• Thun beat SK Rapid Wien 1-0 at home on matchday one, but they have yet to win an away group stage fixture (D1 L2).

Team facts• Thun's Finnish forward Berat Sadik has experience of Belgian football having spent the 2009/10 season on loan at SV Zulte Waregem during his time at DSC Arminia Bielefeld. He made a late cameo appearance in a 2-2 draw at Genk on 19 December 2009. Genk's Trinidiadian midfielder Khaleem Hyland was among his team-mates.

• KSV Waterschei, who merged with KFC Winterslag to form Genk in 1988, reached the semi-finals of the 1982/83 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, losing out to Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen FC.

Coach information• Hired in August 2011, Dutchman Mario Been won his first trophy as Genk coach when he guided his side to the 2012/13 Belgian Cup. An attacking midfielder, 'Mariodona' played for home-town club Feyenoord, Pisa Calcio, Roda JC, sc Heerenveen, FC Tirol Innsbruck and another Rotterdam side, SBV Excelsior. He subsequently coached both Excelsior and Feyenoord either side of leading NEC Nijmegen through the 2008/09 UEFA Cup group stage.

• Urs Fischer took charge of Thun in November 2012 following a long spell working with FC Zürich, where he was in charge of various youth teams before becoming assistant and then senior coach. The centre-back made a record 545 Swiss league appearances – over 300 of them for Zürich where he played his first and last games. In between he captained FC St Gallen and was capped four times by Switzerland.

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